So the big news today is from YouTube. They’ve just announced that they are demonetising hundreds of thousands of YouTube channels so I am going to offer you an alternative way to profit from your YouTube videos.
In order to qualify for monetisation on YouTube, channels now have to generate 4,000 hours of watch time per year plus have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers.
It’s a big ask of channels.
But I’ve got an alternative for you. You can still use your YouTube videos to drive traffic.
The business model I’m going to talk about has consistently been the most profitable online business model since the 1990’s and it is literally responsible for billions of dollars in revenue every year.
If you are creating content uploading YouTube videos or blog posts or creating other types of creating content this is the perfect business model for you because you are already doing the hard part.
Here’s what you got to do:
Table of Contents:
Get Your Own Website
First of all you need your own website you need a domain name and professional hosting.
I know that it’s tempting to go to Blogger.com or WordPress.com and use a free website but don’t do that.
If you step out of line with their Terms of Service they can shut you down.
And today we have found out just how painful it can be when a company that you that you rely on comes along and says they’re changing the rules, so don’t make this mistake again.
Get a proper domain name and get proper hosting that you have complete control over – invest the $5 a month.
Build a List
Then you’re gonna need an email list.
The people on the email list will become your tribe. Think of them like your YouTube subscribers – so invest a lot of time and energy into building your email list.
In order to get them to subscribe to your email list you need to give them something really valuable and that’s usually called a lead magnet.
It’s something that will help them to solve their problem and something that’s very desirable that speaks specifically to those people.
Promote an offer
Once they subscribe to your email list you ask them to make a small purchase.
Nothing too crazy, a $7 or $10 item is perfect.
After they make that small investment you can then you pitch them a more expensive product.
That’s the perfect business model for YouTubers and content creators.
Free Training
I’ve got some free training that will show you everything you need to know, you can follow along with it here.
It’s a simple process that anyone can do.
And I just thought I’d give you some hope today and some encouragement.
You see, when things like this happen, as entrepreneurs we always have to change and adapt.
I think it’s how you bounce back and deal with those changes is really what determines your level of success.
If you’re building your own website and your own email list then you will always own those assets.
That means you have complete control over everything in your business.
You’ll have something that will remain resilient bulletproof so any algorithm changes
And then you’re not relying on third parties to give you an income because you are making it for yourself.
That is true independence and freedom, isn’t it?
You can make thousands of dollars a month from an email list and you can do it on your own terms.
So carry on and don’t stop creating content because it’s one of the most valuable things that you can do.
And the YouTube changes might be a good opportunity for you to grow your business in different ways, that you might not have considered before today.
My personal opinion on the YouTube changes
I know there’s uproar about it, but I had to share my view on it because it might not be what you think.
As a smalltime YouTuber myself who has been affected by this, I’m in favour of what they’re doing… I think it’s a pretty good idea.
Okay so I won’t make any money from my YouTube videos for a long time to come.
Don’t build your business on someone else’s land
Listen, I know that if you are affected by this and you’re gonna lose revenue I sympathise with you… but don’t build your friggin’ business on YouTube, yeah?
I was talking to Ike Paz from Internet Marketing Gym this morning he said something really true about this.
He said that he does not own his channel – that no none of us own our YouTube channels.
YouTube can just shut down any channel they like, for whatever reason they like.
There are thousands of people out there who are trying to make a living on YouTube, who’s dreams have been destroyed.
But think about it.
Maybe this will make people wake up and realise they have to build their own resources and their own assets that they have complete control over.
Imagine if more people did that instead of creating all these wonderful pieces of content and just handing it over to YouTube and letting them decide what happens to it.
Seize control of your business
Maybe this will encourage people to set up their own systems their own websites, and have their own sales processes.
If people are trying to make money on the Internet maybe now they will realise that YouTube has never been a solid business model to invest your time into.
I invest an awful lot of time into YouTube as you know.
It’s a free video hosting platform for me and maybe I can get a bit of traffic from the videos I upload but I’ll be really honest with you.
A major reason why I upload so much to YouTube is to help with my social anxiety. Every time I upload it improves my social anxiety just a little bit.
It helps me get comfortable with the idea of speaking in front of people.
And with the amount of videos you now have to upload to get to monetization… 4,000 hours of watch time per
year… that’s a crazy amount of videos.
So you gotta be real.
The rise of heart-centric YouTubers?
If you want to monetise your channel then you’ll have to use your passion, you’ll have to upload content that you feel strongly about – something that matters to you. Over and over, for a long time.
I think YouTube channels that focus creating heart-centric content will succeed.
We can still monetize from YouTube – we don’t need those little adverts. We just need the right mechanism running in the background.
You need:
- A website
- An email list
- Something to promote
Maybe more people will start doing that, and start creating awesome products.
With the proper system in place, you can still profit from YouTube – just in a new, and potentially more lucrative way.